Protest challenging agency’s evaluation of proposal is denied. The solicitation sought quotes for virtual training classes. The agency rejected the protester’s quote because it made no reference to virtual training. The protester contended the agency should have assumed that it had submitted a virtual training quote because it was responding to an RFQ seeking virtual training services. GAO, however, found that the agency was not required to assume that a quote that did not reference virtual training was in fact for virtual training. The protester bore the risk of its poorly drafted quote.
The Air Force posted an RFQ seeking virtual training courses for its virtual Scale Agile Framework. The agency received nine responses, including a quote from The i4 Group Consulting, LLC. The Air Force found i4’s quote technically unacceptable because it made no mention of virtual training. i4 filed a protest with GAO challenging the evaluation of its proposal as unacceptable.
i4 asserted that the agency should have assumed that its quotation was describing virtual training because it was submitted in response to an RFQ seeking virtual training. Indeed, i4 argued, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual training is the only type of training possible.
GAO noted that an offeror has the burden of submitting a well-written proposal it runs the risk that its proposal will be evaluated unfavorably if it fails to do so. Here, i4 did not specifically reference virtual training in its proposal; in fact, the proposal did not even contain the word “virtual.” By not referencing virtual training in its proposal, i4 bore the risk that its quote would be found technically unacceptable. The agency was not required to assume that i4 submitted a proposal for virtual training or to conduct discussions to clear up confusion about its quote
i4 is represented by Charles Maddox of The i4 Consulting Group. The agency is represented by Alexis J. Bernstein, Josephine Farinelli, Kyle Gilbertson, and Allison Johnson of the Air Force. GAO attorneys Christine Milne and Tania Calhoun participated in the preparation of the decision.
